Melendez Films
Melendez Films is a film animation studio. It was founded in 1962 as a London subsidiary of Bill Melendez Productions (best known for producing the Peanuts specials) by Steven C. Melendez (son of animator Bill Melendez).
| Type | Privately held |
|---|---|
| Industry | Animation, Film |
| Founded | 1962 (As Bill Melendez Productions) |
| Founder | Steven C. Melendez Bill Melendez |
| Headquarters | London, England, United Kingdom Burbank, California, United States Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico |
Key people | Steven C. Melendez Kaj Melendez Mirza-Javed Melendez |
| Products | Animated feature films |
Number of employees | 70 at peak |
| Website | Bill Melendez Inc |
The studio produced the ambitious animated feature film Dick Deadeye, based on the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1979 the company produced a one-and-a-half-hour television special based on the C.S. Lewis classic book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the film subsequently won two Emmy Awards for "best animated film" and "script adaptation". Melendez Films has also produced many series for television including "Fred Basset" and "The Perishers", as well as educational mini films like Molly and the Skywalkerz for PBS, which were not rebroadcast for a couple decades and did not surface on home media until after the 1998 VHS debut.
The company continues to create commercials for France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece and Sweden as well as the UK and the U.S. working for clients such as Scandinavian Airlines, Schick, British Rail, Colgate, Ferrero, and the British Government.